Unmistakable
by MrIntel
Summary: [COMPLETE]A bet, a prank, and a detention mark a year in which Harry fumbles his way into Ginny's arms. Three part fic written for the HG fic-a-fest on LiveJournal.
1. Part One: Like A Bolt of Lightning

**Part One – Like a Bolt of Lightning**

_A/N: This was originally written for the LJ HP-GW Fic-a-fest. Props to LadyG for the pre-beta read!_

A cool wind rustled through Harry's black hair. The first vestiges of autumn were approaching and the scent of the air warmed him beyond any of Madam Pomphrey's potions. Leaves whisked past, tumbling along the grass outside the Quidditch pitch and then swirling down towards the lake where they invariably were swallowed up in its frigid waters.

He pushed his fringe up and out of his face and walked purposefully onto the pitch. It was the first practice of the season for Gryffindor and he was more than ready to get back in the air again after having been banned most of last year and locked away at the Dursley's for the summer. It was time to be back where he belonged and his heart was beating wildly with anticipation.

"Ho there, Harry!" called a familiar voice from the bright sky above. Katie Bell was circling above the pitch, Quaffle in hand, tossing it back and forth with the new third year Chaser Bennett Mead and Ginny Weasley.

"Hey, Katie," answered Harry with a wave. "How's the team looking so far, captain?"

She threw the large red ball to Bennett. "Run some drills with Ginny!" she yelled over her shoulder and maneuvered her broom down next to Harry. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us." Katie motioned to the two new beaters who were only a small improvement over Sloper and Kirke. "Losing Fred and George will hurt us the most. Bennett's coming along, Ginny's fabulous. By the way, have you seen her play?"

Harry nodded his head as his eyes tracked her broom in the sky. She was running a drill with Bennett, who was hard pressed to keep up with the petite redhead. A Bludger whisked past her as she dodged low. Bennett swerved the opposite way and had to fly faster to catch her up, but by the time he did, she had thrown the Quaffle at an undefended hoop.

A smile formed on his lips as she flew a wide arcing sweep of the stadium, wind blowing her loose ponytail behind her like a banner. "What about Ron?"

"Ever since we won last year, he's been unstoppable." Katie shifted her weight on her broom and pointed at the goals he was defending from three enchanted balls. "Hisdetermination is unbelievable. If he's set on something, there's simply no turning him off of it."

Harry snorted, remembering how intimidating Slytherin had been the year before. He mounted his own broom and with a glance back at Katie said, "Well, I haven't caught a Snitch in almost a year, so I'm anxious to get going."

He shot into the air and soaked in the familiar feeling of flight, remembering quickly how to command his Firebolt's motion. Flying around the pitch a couple of times to get acclimated, he ran a series of steep dives and flew off towards Katie again to get a practice Snitch. After catching it several times, he finally felt like he was back to his old self in the air, able to turn as sharply as he ever could and actually beat his best goal-to-goal time.

The sun was just going down on the horizon and Harry turned his broom to the ground for the last time when a red blur whizzed in front of him and swept towards the nearest hoop. The blur slowed and came back around towards his now hovering broomstick.

"Heya, Harry! Sorry about that." Ginny flew up beside him, large grin splitting her soft face. "I didn't even notice you flying there."

"Don't worry about it," said Harry casually. "I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going either."

Her eyes were bright and cheerful, holding within them a hint of mischief. Harry stared at them, wondering why he had never noticed how alive they seemed.

"Harry? You all right?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Oh...yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired." Harry shook his head as if to clear it and motioned down to the pitch. "Better get in before Ron eats all the food."

She laughed and his heart felt instantly lighter. "Race you!" she said as she bolted towards the ground. Harry chuckled to himself and shot off after her.

* * *

Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny skulked along the corridor towards the Astronomy tower where the Marauder's Map showed two dots labeled "Mrs. Norris" and "Argus Filch". It was close to five in the morning and the four of them were on a mission to keep the pranking spirit alive at Hogwarts. Since the twins smashing departure last year, they had been under a lot of pressure to set a good example. Exactly what that meant was the subject of intense debate amongst the four of them.

Hermione resisted and fought with Ron about the importance of keeping the rules as Prefects. Ginny, who didn't have the hang-ups associated with a badge, argued that they had a responsibility to lighten the atmosphere and that it was just as important to enjoy life as it was to get good grades. Coming from the smartest witch in Fifth year, Hermione could only offer a final protest of "As long as we don't get detention..." before they were decided.

The plan was for them to divide and conquer. Ron and Hermione would stun Mrs. Norris and place her frozen form on a pedestal outside the Great Hall, while Harry and Ginny would distract the caretaker by either attacking him directly or simply luring him away from his cat.

"I still don't like this," whispered Hermione. "We can't afford to get caught."

"Shush," replied Harry. "They're moving towards us now." He pointed his lit wand at the map and motioned for Ron to look with him.

"You take the cloak with Hermione and get Mrs. Norris from behind." He turned to Ginny whose face was huddled close to his. "We'll get Filch's attention and run for the library. There's no one down there this time of night and it's the furthest spot from the Great Hall."

Ron nodded his head and said, "Should give us plenty of time to make a sculpture out of our favorite feline and place her where everyone will see."

"Right then," said Ginny brightly. "Let's do this."

They broke away from each other and Ron draped Harry's invisibility cloak over him and Hermione. Harry watched, or rather listened, to his friends bickering silently as they took a hidden passageway that came out behind their target.

As the portrait closed, Ginny cleared her throat and Harry turned to look into her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," she answered innocently. "You want to check on Filch?"

Harry tore his eyes away from her face and searched for the dot marking his location. "He's three doors down, in the next corridor over from us."

Ginny moved in close to him to see the map. Her hip pressed against his side and produced an oddly warm sensation that radiated throughout his whole body. The scent of vanilla and ginger sent his mind buzzing and he had a hard time concentrating on Mr. Filch's advancing dot.

Harry breathed in lungful of the smell surrounding them and let it out, struggling to not sigh out loud. Ginny gave him a sideways glance and he could detect her smile widening. "So how do you want to do this?"

"Excuse me?" he asked slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered. "You – you mean about Filch?"

She giggled into her hand and nodded her head. "What did you think I meant?"

"Well... I thought... I mean that you were... and I..." Harry stopped trying to explain himself then, preferring instead to leave the question unanswered. It was probably better that way. "I'll get his attention and you hit him with your Bat-Bogey Hex."

She nodded slightly, considering his plan.

"Then we'll both run for it as soon as Ron and Hermione grab Mrs. Norris, otherwise, they'll both just chase after us when we run for the Library. We only want Filch to follow."

A shuffling noise, followed by the distinctive closing of a door filtered down the curving corridor. "Quick!" whispered Harry, folding the map and shoving it into his pocket. "Get behind that column."

He maneuvered her to the wall underneath a large ornate window. They huddled down by the base of the column and waited. Harry found it very hard to not glance at Ginny, who was grinning freely, every other second. She seemed to be having the same difficulty and when the moment came to finally execute their plan, they had to force themselves out of the hiding spot.

Harry shot out of the corner and skidded to a halt in front of a rather ugly painting of Grizelda Moorpark. Filch's eyes went wide and he immediately yelled, "Potter! What devilry are you up to this early in the morning?"

"Just enjoying this fine portrait, Mr. Filch. Have you ever seen a better looking lady?" The woman in the portrait blushed appreciatively and curtsied at Mr. Filch.

The caretaker turned to look at the portrait when Harry saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. Ginny was taking aim with her wand and was just about to let loose with her hex. Mrs. Norris pounced on Filch and he went careening into a nearby plant, sending it flying into the wall. Ginny's hex hit the painting instead and Grizelda was covered in flying bat bogeys, screaming indignantly at the redheaded girl.

"It's actually an improvement," Harry said sardonically before he turned to see Mrs. Norris bearing down on Ginny. "Run!"

Ginny needed no further prompting and she and Harry sprinted in the opposite direction. His Seeker skills came in handy as they flew down staircase after staircase. Ginny was having a harder time of it and he had to slow down to keep from losing her. Amazingly, Filch was still right behind them, Mrs. Norris at his heels.

"Ah!" screamed Ginny as she tripped on a large rug and crashed onto the floor.

"Ginny!" yelled Harry, nearly tripping himself in an effort to get back to help her up. Arriving at her side, he stooped down to grab her and was prepared to carry her if he had to.

"It's no good, Harry, you get out of here and I'll take the blame," she said, holding her knee.

Harry looked at her for a split second and made up his mind. "No, Ginny, I'm not just going to abandon you. Here," he said, holding out a hand. "We'll face it together."

She reached up tentatively and pulled until she was upright again, leaning into him for support. Her left leg was held delicately in the air and they both turned to hear the approach of Mr. Filch.

"You'll pay for that! You attacked me and my poor cat and I'll see you both in detention for a week!" he said, huffing and puffing from his pursuit.

Still holding Ginny close and breathing heavily himself, he wondered what had happened to Ron and Hermione.

* * *

Last night's detention kept him up far too late and he had slept in. Three detentions were a small price to pay had they been able to get Mrs. Norris, but it wasn't to be. Ron and Hermione, he found out later, had been "locked" in a broom closet and were unable to make it in time to get Mrs. Norris. Both Harry and Ginny were more than a bit skeptical at their explanation and knew there was likely more to it than that, but both Ron and Hermione were tight lipped about what had happened while Harry and Ginny were being given detention. The only indication that Ron and Hermione were at least partially honest was the black eye that Ron wore the next morning, apparently a result of his attempts to break down the door and flee from Hermione.

As it was, he would barely be able to grab a bite of toast before Potions began. Rushing into the Great Hall, Harry slipped past a gaggle of second years at the entryway and half-sprinted to the Gryffindor table where Ron and Hermione were just getting up to leave.

"There you are," Ron said through a mouthful of bacon. "I tried to wake you, but you were knackered."

"Thanks anyway, Ron." Harry began to put some toast into a napkin and on impulse, grabbed the last two blueberry muffins on the table and rolled them up separately. "I'll see you two in Potions."

"We'll wait up for you, if you want," Hermione offered.

"No, that's all right, I've got to make a stop by Charms first." Ignoring the quizzical looks on Hermione and Ron's faces, he stuffed the two bundles into his robes and huffed out of the Hall to the Charms corridor, book bag thumping at his hip.

When he arrived outside Flitwick's classroom, he quickly scanned the crowd for a familiar face. The fifth years were just arriving for class, and through the array of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, Harry spied his target. Rushing toward her, he took out the muffins from his robe pocket and grabbed her arm.

"Ginny," he puffed breathlessly. "Here's some breakfast. I know you didn't get a chance to eat anything." She took the bundle in his hand and looked up at him with a curious expression.

"You didn't have to do that, Harry," said Ginny quickly recovering from her shock and a smile forming on her mouth.

Harry hesitated for just a moment, indulging himself in trying to memorize the shape of her lips, and then said, "Well, I'll see you at lunch then." Without waiting for a reply, he strode off to the dungeons to endure another lesson with the hated Potions master.

As he was turning the corner, he heard one of Ginny's friends say loudly, "If that's not enough proof he likes you, then you're more pathetic than I thought."

He halted in his tracks, almost crashing into one of the suits of armor that lined the hallway. _They think I _like_ Ginny?_ _Well, of course I like her...it's just that she's _Ginny,_ not some _girl. _I certainly don't like her _that_ way._

Resuming his march back to potions, he puzzled on this for a time until he was in his seat next to Ron. His friend clapped him on the back and said, "Where'd you go?"

Slowly, Harry turned to his friend, still thinking. "Um... just had to drop something off...."

At that moment, Snape burst into the classroom and began barking orders for their lesson. Try as Harry might, he couldn't seem to get his mind off what Ginny's friend had said. _I _can't_ like Ginny! She definitely doesn't like me that way anymore and besides, Ron would kill me!_

* * *

Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper were practicing summoning and banishing between the dormitory stairways. They took turns with each spell, sending books, quills and crumpled bits of parchment flying through the air at each other.

Harry got up from his chair and started to walk over to talk with Neville. He was struggling with their Herbology essay and now was as good a time as any to ask the undisputed king of plants.

Just as he was crossing the sofa in front of the fire, Ginny was making her way downstairs, intent on heading for the portrait hole. From the corner of his eye, Harry could see that the summoning and banishing between Andrew and Jack was rapidly escalating into a frenzied bout of dodge, with the flying objects growing larger and larger.

As Ginny and Harry's path intersected, he quickly grabbed her with both arms and tackled her to the floor. A large book bounced heavily off a nearby table and toppled it to the ground.

Lying on top of a very confused Ginny, Harry immediately tried to get up, but found his arms were pinned under her back from his effort to cushion their fall. Instead, he looked into her face and saw that her eyes were wide in shock.

"Are you all right?" he asked with a voice barely above a whisper.

Her eyes resumed their normal size and she said, "Actually, better than fine." She nodded towards the overturned table. "Thanks for saving me, Harry," she finished in a demure tone.

Harry's eyes now widened as he resumed fumbling to extricate himself from the floor and Ginny. A blush began to creep up his neck and cheeks and he felt abnormally hot in the cool air on this side of the common room.

"Well... the book... it... could have...." Harry's mouth was very dry and he couldn't seem to form the words properly. He noticed that Ginny now had the beginnings of a smirk on her face and didn't appear to be making any effort to help them get off the floor.

Just as Harry finally managed to free an arm, he was pelted in the head with a wad of parchment. "Hey Potter, do you mind not doing that in the Common Room?" Sloper was sniggering into his hand as Kirke fell off his chair in a fit of laughter.

Harry finally released his hold of Ginny and jumped off the floor with a look of abject terror on his face. Recovering what little sense of dignity he had left, he deftly offered to help Ginny up as well. Ginny however, was still grinning madly up at him and it took several moments before she grabbed his hand and was pulled to a standing position.

"Look, Ginny...," Harry began, "I'm sorry about that, I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"It's all right, Harry. I understand completely." Ginny stared at him for a few seconds, with the same unwavering smile and then turned on her heel and resumed her march to the portrait hole.

As she exited, Kirke recovered from his sniggering and said, "When you going to ask her out, Potter?"

"What are you talking about? Ask who out?" He knew exactly who they were referring to, but couldn't bring himself to acknowledge it.

"Oh, come on, Harry. We know you fancy Ginny, just admit it and get it over with." They continued to laugh and began picking up the evidence of their mini-war.

Harry's mind was turning. Once again, someone had accused him of _liking_ Ginny Weasley. He didn't know how it was possible, but as he continued to ponder the situation, one thought hit him like a bolt of lightning. He was falling in love with her.


	2. Part Two: Harry's Worst Fear

**Part Two – Harry's Worst Fear**

Harry crept up the stairs to his dormitory, completely shocked with the thoughts whirling around his head. How could it be possible that he would fancy Ginny Weasley? When he and Cho broke things off, he just figured that it would be after he left Hogwarts and faced whatever fate with Voldemort, before he would be ready to pursue another relationship. _So what happened?_ he asked himself.

Slowly walking over to his four-poster, he loosened his tie and pulled it over his head, tossing it onto the nightstand beside the bed. It landed slightly off-center and gravity pulled on it until the red and gold material slid to the floor. Harry left it there, next to his trainers and sat heavily onto his bed.

A creaking sound from the stairwell announced the approach of someone from the common room. Ron's short red hair appeared in the doorway a moment later and he walked over to where Harry sat on his bed. "You all right, mate?"

He looked up at Ron and said wearily, "Yeah. Just...." Harry fidgeted with his robes for a moment before pulling them off completely. "You remember when we had that talk about Hermione at the Burrow?"

Ron thought for a moment, and then said, "Yeah. What about it?"

"Well you remember how you asked me if things would be the same between us if you and she... got together?"

Ron's ears went pink and he shoved a hand into his robe pocket. "Yeah."

Harry blew out a breath and decided that he might as well finish what he'd started. "Would anything change if I started to like... someone?" He really wanted to tell Ron, but this was his sister he was talking about!

"Well, when you were with Cho, it wasn't a big deal...." Ron's brow furrowed as he tried to decipher Harry's cryptic reply.

Trembling inside, Harry continued, "What if it was someone already close to us? Like how Hermione was already close to us?" _Almost there_, he thought.

"Someone we're already friends with?" he puzzled. From the look on his face, the wheels were turning rapidly in his head. Ron's eyebrows shot up and he said, "You like _Hermione_?"

Harry waved his hands frantically in front of him. "NO! No, I don't like Hermione, that way. She's a friend, Ron and I know how you feel about her."

Sighing in relief, Ron sat on the bed next to Harry. "That's a relief. Talk about something that could get between two mates!" But the wheels continued in his mind, and it was inevitable that he would figure it out, so Harry remained silent.

"Wait a minute! This isn't right, Harry. You can't like my sister. She's... she's...."

"Beautiful, Ron." Seeing the disgusted look on his friend's face, Harry continued. "And smart, and funny, and... a fantastic Chaser." A small smirk was forming on his lips as he persisted in winding Ron up.

"Eugh! That's sick!" Then after a moment, the frightful face transformed into a large grin. "You've got it bad, Harry. What are you going to do?"

"What are you talking about?" It didn't go beyond his notice that Ron hadn't asked straight out if he liked Ginny.

"You're totally smitten! Now that I think about it, you've been moping around for months and it was all because of my sister," he said, verbalizing what Harry had been painstakingly trying to deny this whole time.

"Yeah," was his meager confession. "So answer the question. Will it change anything between us?"

The amused look that Ron had disappeared completely, and Ron the best mate was replaced with Ron the older brother. "Harry, you know how it is with Ginny. She's too young to be serious with anyone, and if you break her heart, you'll have six... I mean five hot-headed brothers to answer to."

Harry expected that, especially after hearing that exact speech given to Dean Thomas at the beginning of term. "Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it okay if I like your sister?"

Big brother Ron melted back into Harry's best mate, and he said, "Absolutely." Then rubbing his hands together conspiratorially, "When are you going to tell her?"

Harry blanched and his stomach churned with acid. "I'm­ – I'm not."

"WHAT?" he yelled. "She's been mooning over you for years and you're not going to do anything about it?"

Sighing, Harry prepared to jump the next hurdle he was facing. "It's not like that anymore, Ron. You heard Hermione last year. She's moved on and I'm not even on her list anymore," he said dejectedly.

When Ron didn't say anything, Harry looked up to see a huge grin on his face. "What?" asked Harry.

"Can't say," he intoned, still grinning.

"Oh, fine!" said Harry, crashing back onto his bed. "At least you haven't got a girlfriend either."

Rising to the bait perfectly, Ron said, "And just what's that supposed to mean?"

With a small smile of his own, Harry answered cheekily, "Nothing. Just that I bet I can get Ginny to go on a date with me before you can get Hermione to."

Before he could even smirk at the ribbing he was giving his friend, a pillow came crashing into his head from Ron's direction. "Eruff!" said a muffled Harry.

"You're on." Ron was grinning widely at his friend. "Since I'm such a sporting guy, I'll even let you have a head start. You have two days to ask Ginny before I ask Hermione."

Knowing that Ron was a big chicken when it came to Hermione and his "feelings", as he called them, Harry figured this was a sure thing. "All right, then. What's the wager going to be?"

Ron gave careful thought to this and said, "The first one to get a yes from his girl gets a new racing broom."

"But Ron, I don't need a new racing broom," Harry reasoned.

A second pillow crashed into Harry as he lay on the bed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You won't be so cocky when I've got a date and you're still mooning over my sister!"

"Who's mooning over your sister?" came the voice of Neville from the stairwell.

Harry's face flushed red and Ron shot Harry a look as if to say, _If you don't tell him, I will._

Neville was staring patiently at Ron who was shaking with silent laughter at Harry's predicament. Mustering his courage, Harry said, "I am."

"What!" Neville shouted. His eyes had grown big with shock, and then he clamped a hand over his mouth to unsuccessfully contain a laugh. "That's unbelievable."

Confused, Harry rose again to a sitting position. "It's not that far out there, you know," he said a little dejectedly.

"No, I didn't mean it like that." Neville walked over to the two boys and said with a grin, "I meant to say that it's unbelievable it took you so long!"

Raking his hand through his hair, Harry snorted. "I guess I've been a bit blind...."

"So when are you going to tell her?" came the question for a second time.

"Why does everyone want to know when I'm going to tell Ginny that I like her?"

"You like Ginny Weasley?" Dean and Seamus had just entered the dormitory. Seamus was snickering into his hand and Dean had a knowing look on his face.

Harry simply groaned into his pillow in embarrassment, not bothering to explain himself further. Neville and Ron however, were more than happy to fill in the details.

When they were done, Seamus said, "When are you going to ask her out, then?"

"I'm not bloody asking Ginny Weasley out!" Harry shouted.

This only caused his four classmates to chuckle harder and Harry hung his head in defeat. "Sure you are, mate," said Ron, clapping him on the back. "In fact, I hear she's down in the common room right now."

"Oh, no.... I'm not asking her now," Harry protested the mischievous looks on the boys' faces. "I can't even be in the same room as her without stuttering and stammering." He glanced from face to face, looking for mercy. Instead of pity, Ron and Neville traded a peek at each other before nodding and moving to either side of Harry on the bed. Seamus and Dean caught on quickly and before Harry could do anything, he was being carried bodily towards the stairs.

"This isn't funny, Ron! You can't make me do this!" Harry hollered all the way down the stairs. The occupants of the common room were now wholly engrossed with the activities of their house's sixth year boys. It wasn't every day that Harry Potter was dragged from his dorm, and most of the curiosity seemed to center on the girls' side of the room.

The four conspirators planted Harry down firmly in front of the only other redhead in the tower and kept him in place with their solid grips. Ginny looked at Harry questioningly, while his face began to heat up. Seeing her now, his struggles and indignant cries were long forgotten. Sensing that he wasn't going to fight, the four boys let him go, but remained close by to witness the scene.

"Harry? What's going on?" The sincerity of her question took his breath away and he couldn't help but shake a little in his pleasure at being near her again.

"Umm...," was his articulate response.

She smirked a little bit and prodded further, "Why did your roommates carry you over to me?"

Blanching at the directness of her question, he searched desperately for a suitable answer. "Well... I... the thing is....." Merlin couldn't help him now, and he made to bolt for the portrait hole, but was caught by Ron and Seamus.

"Easy, Harry. You've faced worse than a fifteen-year old girl, you know." Ron guffawed at Seamus' comment and they pushed him back to face Ginny.

"What are they talking about, Harry?" She was no longer amused, and had her hands on her hips in what Harry referred to as the 'Molly Weasley' stance. He knew that if he didn't act the way she wanted him to, he would face the full brunt of the Weasley temper.

Harry twitched and felt the pressure of four pairs of hands on his back and arms. There would be no running from her this time. He saw Ron wink and nod at Hermione, who was on Ginny's left side, smiling like the Cheshire cat. Hermione squealed and ran to whisper in Lavender Brown's ear, who also squealed in apparent delight. Both Ginny and Harry watched as the whispering and giggling increased until the whole of Gryffindor was standing around the room, watching the unfolding drama.

"Well?" Ginny asked impatiently. "Are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to have to force you to talk?" She whipped out her wand, and a chorus of "Ooh!" rang in the air.

Harry raised his hands as far as his captors would let him and said, "N – Now, Ginny. Let's be reasonable." He was staring at the tip of her wand, all too familiar with her ability to hex anyone into next week. "I'll tell you."

A collective gasp filled the room, followed by an unearthly silence. Even the fire seemed to cease its popping and hissing as everyone waited for Harry to tell her what they had all guessed in the last few months.

He looked into her eyes and her hard exterior melted slightly under his scrutiny. Her arm dropped and there were a few sighs of relief at her apparent softening. Harry's mouth curved in a small grin and he was happy to see a similar one on her face.

_Now the hard part_. "I... I fancy you."

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise and the sound of her thin wooden wand hitting the flagstone floor echoed through the room. Cries of happiness erupted at his pronouncement and Harry vaguely heard the sounds of Galleons clinking as bets were settled. Ginny tottered woozily and she threatened to fall over right then.

Just before she was about to succumb to her dizziness, Harry jumped forward and caught her in his arms. She sagged completely into him and looked up into his eyes, tears brimming on the edges.

Reaching out a hand to his cheek, she said, "What are you saying, Harry?"

Not wanting to mess this up any more than he had already, he said immediately, "I think I'm falling in love with you."

She shook her head violently, "No, Harry. That can't be true."

"What... why?" was his confused response.

"I – I gave up on you. I left my feelings with my old self and I don't know if I can get them back." She sighed heavily and buried her head in his shoulder. "I don't know if I want to get them back."

Now it was Harry's turn to watch the world spin in front of him. A queasy dizziness enveloped him and he desperately wanted to run away. This was exactly what he dreaded when his roommates forced him to confront her. It was his worst fear. Worse than death or Voldemort, was finally figuring out how to love and to have that person not love him back. He was devastated.

The rest of the crowd was oblivious to the couple, who seemed to be locked in an embrace, each shedding what appeared to be tears of happiness at finding one another. As was typical however, appearances were deceptive, and the situation before them was no different. Instead of joy, Harry only felt a piercing painful clench on his heart, stifling his happiness with each beat. Instead of wanting to leap for joy, he only sought to find an end to his life.

At length, Ginny looked up into his eyes with a small grin and said, "You know you smell exactly as I imagined you would." Her smile was no longer sad, but a held a hint of mischief.

Harry choked and couldn't seem to form any words in his throat.

Ginny ran her hands through his hair and her eyes rolled back into their sockets, "Mmm," she moaned. "I've wanted to do that so many times, Harry."

He was very confused now and desperately tried to figure out exactly what was going on in her pretty little head. Next, she leaned her face into his shoulder and drew in a deep breath through her nose. "Wow," she said, breathless. He then froze as he felt the soft impress of her lips on his jaw, where it met his neck. _What was she doing_? He wondered through a wave of guilty pleasure.

"I might have to make an exception here. You're simply too delicious." Her eyes held a wicked gleam as she looked up at Harry.

"What are you saying," too dumbfounded to believe that he still might have a chance with her.

Ginny cocked her head to the side. "What? You mean you thought I was going to just jump into your arms after four _years_ of pining after you?" She poked him in the chest with a stout finger. "You treat me like just another girl all this time and expect me to swoon and fall after you like I'm still too dense to think for myself?"

"But... but...," he spluttered incoherently.

"It's only fair that you feel a _teensy_ bit of what I've been going through since I first met you, Harry Potter." Ginny's voice had risen slightly and a few people were turning to look at them. Then she batted her eyelashes and melted into him once more. "But I think you've been tortured enough for one night. I'll just have to punish you more later."

"Mrfff," was all he was able to get out before she crushed his lips with her own.

Harry's world was irrevocably divided at this point in time between pre-Ginny kiss and post-Ginny kiss. After this point, Harry never had to wonder, he never had to doubt, and he would always know that he loved Ginny Weasley.

"Mmm... wow... that was...," he said after they broke apart.

"Quite good," finished Ginny, who swayed in a stupor as she clung to the front of his robes. "I've been waiting a long time for you, Harry Potter." Her vision cleared and she locked eyes with him. "Don't ever make me go through that again."

"I promise," was his immediate response. "I don't have to wonder any more, Ginny."

"About what?"

"About whether or not I love you." Harry gripped onto her harder, as if she would suddenly run away. "I think I've always loved you, I just didn't realize it until tonight. And now that I know it, I can't imagine it being any different."

She chuckled slightly, "I know just how you feel." Then she reached up for another kiss and when they met, a loud "Aw!" caused them to break apart abruptly. Harry's face immediately flushed red and Ginny burst out laughing.

"All right, you lot!" Ginny said. "This one here is mine, so don't even think about taking him away from me." After bending down to pick up her wand, she pulled him by his robes to a secluded corner, presumably to resume their interrupted kiss.

When they arrived, she whirled on him and said, "Listen to me, Harry. I know for a fact that there are certain girls in this room that have their eyes on you, so you have to be careful."

"What are you talking about, Ginny?"

She rolled her eyes impatiently at him. "There was kind of this... group that met to talk about... well... you."

"Huh?"

"I know, it sounds stupid, but a bunch of girls got together to sort of... moon over you."

"A fan club?" Visions of his second year came flooding back, complete with Lockhart's insufferable advice on fame and Malfoy's taunting.

"Yeah, it wasn't supposed to get at big as it is, that's why I left it last year."

"You... you were a member?" Although the idea didn't really surprise him, it was still a little unnerving to be the object of unrequited... lust.

Ginny squirmed a little at the question and mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"I said I was actually the founder." She couldn't seem to meet his eyes. "But I quit when they started to talk about stealing your underwear and stuff like that."

"Steal my underwear?" The very idea creeped him out to no end.

"Yeah, pretty stupid, huh? They actually wanted me to do it because I've kind of got a reputation for being able to steal things." She sat down on the arm of a nearby sofa and let out a breath. "But I was adamant about it, so they chucked me out. The founder, for Merlin's sake!"

Harry shook his head, trying to make sense of this new information. "So you founded a secret Harry Potter fan club and were thrown out because you wouldn't steal my underwear?"

"Yeah," she said sheepishly. "That about sums it up."

"Bugger."

"Yeah. But you've got to be careful, Harry. I've heard that they're planning something really big this year. They won't stop at underwear, now that I'm not there to regulate." Ginny pushed her hair from her face and stood up again. "I think they want to get some of your hair and get someone to Polyjuice themselves into you."

"Wha – why would they want to do that?" he asked incredulously.

"To see you naked, of course," she said, as if he were a three-year-old.

"Wow! That's... really obsessive."

"You have no idea, Harry."

"So what do we do?"

"Leave it to me." The wicked gleam returned to her eyes. "Now that you're mine, I've got it all planned out. Just stick with me, and no one will get to ogle my boyfriend but me."

"Wait a minu – "

"Shush," she interrupted. "I'm thinking, here."

Slightly put out, but willing to be obedient, Harry wondered what happened to the shy little girl he had met in the Burrow all those years ago.


	3. Part Three: Size Doesn't Matter

Part Three – Size Doesn't Matter

Harry was asleep in his four-poster bed, dreaming about Quidditch when a great girlish scream echoed throughout the dorm. He immediately shot awake, throwing his covers to the end of his mattress and pulled open the curtains around his bed. Dim sunlight streamed through the windows of the room, clearly indicating that it was far too early for anyone to be awake.

"GetitoffGetitioffGetitoff!" screamed a clearly distressed Ron. Harry leapt out of his bed and blearily hobbled over to Ron's, opening the scarlet hangings with a hefty tug.

Ron was scrunched in the corner of his bed, pulling at his bedclothes and kicking at an unseen adversary. "It's right there, Harry!  Get it!" he said, with the last syllable registering as a high C.

Seamus and Dean were now on the other side of the bed, giving Ron strange looks. Neville came up last and said drowsily, "Whas-a-matter?"

Still kicking his covers and screaming in high-pitched notes, Ron was bordering on hysterical. Finally, not able to think of anything better, Harry simply sat in the general vicinity of his friend's frantic waving. The effect was immediate. Ron stopped thrashing and let out a breath in relief, but still kept shooting his eyes towards the end of his bed. The other boys continued to look at their redheaded dorm mate as if he'd grown three heads overnight.

"Wha' in tha devil?" muttered Seamus, rubbing his temples.

Dean simply shook his head from side to side as he wandered back to his bed, falling onto the covers in a tired heap. Neville continued to linger at the foot of Ron's bead, obviously in a sleep-induced stupor, glancing from the where Harry sat, to Ron.

Ron was breathing slowly now, so Harry ventured a question. "Care to let us in on the problem?"

"Spi-spi-spiders," supplied Ron, obviously still not fully recovered.

"Strange that no one else saw anything...," remarked Harry, sitting up to inspect the end of Ron's bed. Finding nothing, he walked back over to his dresser to change.

After visiting the loo, Harry returned to the dorm feeling refreshed and ready for the day. Ron still hadn't moved from the corner of his bed and Harry had to shake his head in amusement. "I'm heading down to breakfast, Ron," he called. "Catch me up later?"

Nodding his head in answer, Ron continued to scan the bed for more of the imaginary eight-legged invaders.

Arriving in the Great Hall, Harry walked up to his usual spot at the Gryffindor table and sat in front of a large selection of pastries. Just before he bit into a raspberry-filled one, he caught eyes with Susan Bones at the Hufflepuff table. She immediately blushed a bright red and ducked her head behind a book, knocking over her goblet of juice. Realizing that she wasn't the only one staring, Harry glanced around the hall and noticed Hannah Abbot in Ravenclaw also staring. She wasn't facing him but had twisted around to catch a glimpse of him. When she realized she was caught, she quickly twisted back, but failed to notice the platter of biscuits that was being handed to her neighbor. Her hand caught the plate and sent it soaring down the table, spilling its contents onto the heads of several of her classmates.

Now highly amused at the antics of the girls, he swept his eyes over the Slytherin table to see if there were any accidents in the making there. At first he was unsuccessful, only catching a sneer from Malfoy, but soon Pansy Parkinson entered the hall and when she locked eyes with Harry, he decided to have a little fun. Smiling broadly he winked at her, and her eyes went wide in shock as he proceeded to blow a kiss at her. So engrossed in their exchange, she walked straight into Goyle as he rotated his body to leave the table. Pansy tripped and fell face first into a large pudding, spraying the nearby students with gobs of purple filling.

Harry's smile grew large as he continued to cause havoc in the Great Hall, all because he realized that he _could_. Ginny's revelation last night about the fan club had sent his mind whirring. Since he couldn't stop them, he thought he would have a little fun with the situation.

Ginny arrived just then, sitting down with a flourish of her hair, sending the most intoxicating smell his way. "Good morning, Harry," she sang as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Harry looked around the hall again and noticed that the girls who had been watching him were now fuming at the couple. "So are you ready to help me take care of your fan club?" she asked after swallowing a rasher of bacon.

Harry leapt to his feet and bowed deeply. "I'm at your command, my liege." He finished the display by taking her hand and kissing it lightly. Hearing a growling noise, he looked up to see Lavender and Parvati walk into the hall. He noticed with great amusement that as they looked at him bowing before Ginny their faces screwed into an angry snarl and they began to shoot daggers at the lovely redhead in front of him.

Not noticing the jealous girls, Ginny giggled and pulled her hand away just long enough to smack him lightly on the shoulder. "Sit down you big goof. I'm not royalty."

Plopping down in his seat, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and whispered into her ear, "You are to me, Ginny."

She giggled again and Harry could feel the death glares increase in ferocity.  Ginny turned serious as she loaded up her plate with eggs and toast. "I've got an old roll from the last meeting I attended. That'll be a good start."

Furrowing his brow in concentration, he asked, "Do you intend to hex them all individually?"

"Well... yeah," she answered as she finished buttering her toast.

"Why don't you just take care of the lot of them at one time?" Harry asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That way, you don't have to figure out who the members are and we can get them off my back sooner," he said, glancing at several of the girls in question.

Ginny smiled as she swallowed her bite of toast. "Been having problems, Harry?"

He loved the way she said his name and it sent shivers up his spine. "Ever since you told me about the club, I've spotted a few of them giving me looks."

"Looks?" she said in earnest question. Then her eyes narrowed and her voice lowered. "What kind of looks?"

"Well, you know...," Harry said, trying to find the right words. "Kind of how Ron looks at a bag full of chocolate frogs."

Ginny's face fell and she put her forehead in her hands. "This is bad, Harry. I know that look all too well. It means they're about to do something...." Ginny gulped audibly. "Something drastic." She suddenly looked up, a wicked gleam in her eye. "We'll just have to strike first, that's all. I'm sorry, Harry," she said, touching his arm with the tips of her fingers. "I'm afraid we're still going to have to get them one at a time, but maybe... maybe we can do both."

A fluttering of wings was heard overhead as hundreds of owls glided down to the tables, laden with packages and letters. A large barn owl descended over their section of the Gryffindor table, deposited a heavy parcel in front of Ginny and swooped off for the openings in the ceiling.

Ginny's gleam intensified as she looked at the brown paper-covered box before her. "Well, I guess I won't have to hex Fred and George after all." Then she started as if she remembered something and turned to Harry. "Did anything happen with Ron last night?"

Suddenly suspicious, Harry asked, "Why? Do you know something?"

Flashing an innocent smile, she said, "Maybe.... Are you going to tell me?" With a flutter of her eyelashes, Harry could feel his defenses crumbling and couldn't figure out why he was resisting her in the first place.

"He really freaked out this morning. Said something about spiders in his bed, but when I looked I couldn't find anything," said Harry.

"Hmm," she said with an air of indifference and returned to her eggs.

Harry stared at her for a while and when it was clear that she wasn't going to say more, nudged her side. "You gonna tell me what that was all about?"

"Terror-tots," she said after she finished chewing her bacon. "A new prototype the twins gave me before term started. I was saving it for Malfoy, but I needed to know if they worked right away." She opened the box and took out a bag of what looked like ordinary tater-tots. "Taste just like the real thing... Delayed reaction to ensure that the creatures or persons your victim fears most won't appear until they're fast asleep.... Use of more than one could be harmful to the victim's nervous system," she read from the label.

Harry let out a low whistle. "What else have you got in there?"

But Ginny apparently wasn't letting him in on all her secrets as she pushed the terror-tots into the box and sealed it back with her wand. "If I told you everything, it would spoil the surprise." Her eyes wrinkled at the corners as she smiled; something Harry found endearing.

"Alright," he said with a sigh. "But it'll be hard to help you prank _my_ fan club if I don't know how we're doing it...," he trailed off with a smirk, looking at the ceiling in mock boredom.

"Fine," she said with a laugh. "I'll tell you, but we can't get started until after classes are over." Ginny glanced at her watch and made a squeaking sound. "I'm late for Potions! See you at lunch, Harry!" She grabbed her backpack and parcel, and then pecked Harry's cheek before rushing out of the Great Hall, with several pairs of eyes following her progress.

Harry was the first one out of Charms and politely ignored Ron's inquiries as to where he was going. He pushed his way through the crowded corridor, turning right instead of heading straight for the dungeon and another dreaded encounter with Snape. Taking this detour, he knew he risked being late and therefore a detention, but didn't care. There were more important things in life than pleasing the school's Potions Master.

Darting around a gaggle of first years filing out of Transfiguration, Harry made for the school's main entrance and the Herbology greenhouses. Just before he reached the door, five girls came out of the shadows and surrounded him.

"Harry," intoned Susan Bones, who was standing in front of him, in a seductive voice. "Going somewhere?"

Hannah Abbot's hand touched his shoulder and he flinched. "Why don't we spend some time together?" she asked. "There's a really _cozy_ closet on the fourth floor...."

Harry backed away, but bumped into Lavender Brown. "Or we could walk around the lake," she cooed into his ear.

Parvati and Pansy Parkinson were fighting each other for position and Harry used their distraction to slip out of the ever-closing circle. A little flustered, he managed to stammer out, "N – No thanks, girls, I'm just heading to Herbology...."

"But Harry," said Parvati, batting her eyelashes demurely. "We have Potions next."

The girls advanced on him and Harry backed away until he hit the corner of the entrance hall. "Well... I know, but...."

Harry was saved from having to answer, when the front door opened to reveal the fifth years emerging from Professor Sprout's class. He searched through the crowd quickly, looking for a familiar shock of red, as Pansy's hands reached for his hair.

"_Stupefy!_" Ginny Weasley was bearing down on the group of girls with fire in her eyes. Pansy fell to the ground in a heap and the rest of them scattered as quickly as if they had been electrocuted.

"Thank Merlin," Harry said with relief. "I was almost done for."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "The Boy-Who-Lived almost done in by a group of sixth-year girls?" she said with feigned shock.

Harry let out a strained laugh. "Well, I didn't want to curse them," he said with a glance at Pansy's limp form. "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt that one too much."

Eyes sparkling merrily in the light, Ginny hooked his arm and led them back down the now emptying corridor. "It looks like we're going to have to act sooner than we planned," she whispered conspiratorially, sending shivers down his spine as her breath licked at his ear.

Unable to focus on anything but the girl beside him, he replied thickly, "Yeah,"

She didn't seem to notice however, as her face was screwed up in thought. "You know," she said tapping her chin with a slender finger. "I think I've just the thing to do." She pushed Harry into an empty classroom and up against one of the walls, waiting for the door to click shut before she continued. "I heard from Hermione that the fan club is meeting tonight at seven in one of the rooms off the Transfiguration corridor. It's the perfect opportunity to get the whole group."

"What about the terror-tots?" asked Harry, who was trying desperately to not take advantage of their situation in the dark, unoccupied classroom.

"I think I can modify them to work while they're awake. I may need to skip Charms to do it though."

"Ginny Weasley," said Harry with a hint of reproach. "Skipping class to plan a prank on your fellow students?"

She grinned wickedly and said, "You're more important to me than a ruddy Charms class." Then she crushed his lips with hers and all worry about skiving classes, fan clubs, and everything else flew out of his mind.

Still reeling from his time with Ginny in the empty classroom, Harry vaguely wandered through the rest of classes until dinnertime. His daydreaming was interrupted however, when several screams erupted throughout the Great Hall. At least two girls fromeach house leapt up from their seats and were running up and down the aisles, trying to escape from whatever they feared most. Beside him, Ginny smiled innocently and grabbed his thigh with her hand.

The effects of the modified prank didn't seem to last very long, however and soon the girls were being shakily escorted to their seats. Harry was about to ask Ginny if that was all that was going to happen, when she squeezed his leg and said, "Just wait, Harry. Just wait."

After the last vestiges of dinner were being cleared from the tables, Harry and Ginny were walking down the Transfiguration corridor under Harry's invisibility cloak. Ginny had a bag in one hand and her wand in the other. He had to fight the urge to pull her into one of the other empty classrooms to have his way with her, instead, settled with putting one arm around her as they stooped under the cloak.

The door was slightly cracked when they arrived and one girl was visible just on the other side, as if she was sent to watch for intruders. A faint hum of voices could be heard through the doorway and Ginny motioned for them to stop.

Reaching through the folds of the cloak, she prodded the door with her wand and it opened a crack further, just enough for her to poke her arm through to touch the girl in the entryway. Ginny muttered something that Harry didn't catch and the sentry girl immediately let out a shriek of surprise. Ginny pulled Harry up against the wall just as the door burst open and a third-year Hufflepuff came tearing out of the room and down towards one of the bathrooms.

"Bladder buster charm," said Ginny. "Fred hexed me with it when I was four and Mum almost skinned him alive when I went through all my clothes in an hour."

Harry suppressed a laugh and they returned to the now wide open door. Slipping inside unnoticed, they followed the wall until they were on the other side of the room, carefully avoiding a group of second years that didn't seem to know what was going on. Pansy Parkinson was talking to the group and Harry could hear her clearly.

"That Weasel-girl has gotten her claws into him already and we haven't even gotten the hair yet," she said with a threatening glance at the twenty or so girls in the room. "We need to take decisive action if we're going to get a look at Potter's goods."

"What if they're small?" piped in someone from behind a large Slytherin that could have been Crabbe's sister. "We need some reassurance that it'll be worth it if we're going to risk a month of detentions."

Pansy rolled her eyes and to Harry's surprise, so did Ginny who was now aiming her wand through a slit in the cloak. "They're not small, you idiot. This is the Boy-Who-Lived, we're talking about here! Anyone who could kill the Dark Lord has got to have a huge – "

But she never got to identify the object as Pansy's voice failed her for a moment followed by a large belch. The girls in the room guffawed and giggled at her. Ginny used the distraction and pulled some items out of the bag, placing them on the ground in front of them. Then she levitated one at a time, floating them close to the ground until they were underneath each of the girls.

"_Finite Incantatem_," she whispered and the objects crackled out purple smoke until the room was filled, cutting off all vision.

"What the – " said one girl on their right.

"Hey!" shouted another towards the door.

"Someone cast a clearing charm!" said someone whose voice changed pitch halfway through the sentence.

Before anyone could react properly, the smoke dissipated and each of the girls in the room except Ginny were now left looking like a strange version of Harry.

Twenty pairs of green eyes blinked at each other through round spectacles. They were each wearing a small white toga and sash that proclaimed, "Member of the Harry Potter fan club!" with a small caption underneath that read, "He's got large bits!"

One adventurous girl glanced underneath her toga and fainted dead away. The others stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, when they all burst out screaming and ran through the doors and down the hall in different directions. The Harry Potter look-alike where Pansy used to be belched loudly several times before following the rest of the group out the door.

Ginny was bent double at this point, and Harry was holding a stitch in his side as laugher shook his frame. "That was...," he started but couldn't finish as he remembered the look on their Harry-like faces before they ran off.

Ginny was shaking her head, eyes scrunched tight. "I – I know!" was all she managed to get out between her fit of giggles.

They were on their knees now, clutching at each other in an attempt to keep from rolling around on the floor. Finally letting the laughter subside, Ginny's face resumed its evil grin and Harry felt a little thrill knowing that she was the one for him and that she loved him just as much as he did her.

"Tell me one thing, Mr. Potter," she said, pointing over to the still unconscious 'Harry' on the floor. "Exactly how big are your bits?"

He choked at the serious look on her face, but a grin curved in the corners of her mouth and he smiled. "You'll have to wait to find out the answer to that question, Miss Weasley."

Her eyebrows rose in challenge. "Oh, really?" she said, putting her arms around his neck and pulling his face closer to hers. "And what if I said I could offer something comparable as payment?" She tilted her head and licked her lips.

Harry felt heat pooling in his stomach and again had to fight the urge to take advantage of her in their now private setting. "Let me think about it?" he said and caught her lips in a searing kiss.


End file.
